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December 10, 2015

Not For Me: Glimmer and Glow by Beth Kery

Glimmer and Glow Duology

Beth Kery

Paperback (2015)

Berkley

Erotica

After graduating from her M.B.A. program, Alice Reed is surprised when she’s recruited for the management training experience at legendary Camp Durand, owned by Durand Inc.’s young, billionaire CEO, Dylan Fall. The company usually recruits from Ivy League schools, not insignificant colleges like Alice’s.

Alice enthusiastically accepts, but she still wonders why Dylan would choose a girl from the wrong side of the tracks for the prestigious program. But after a passionate encounter one night, she discovers exactly why—Dylan wants her, and Alice can hardly resist his fierce sexual appetites, though she is amazed that she could appeal to an experienced, sophisticated man like Dylan.

As Dylan introduces her to thrilling, erotic territory, Alice discovers a delicious new part of herself. Night after night, she steals away to find ecstasy and escape in Dylan’s arms. But behind her lover’s powerfully magnetic facade, Alice senses darkness, secrets from Dylan’s past lurking in his beautiful, lonely mansion—secrets that are starting to haunt Alice. And the ghosts of the truth might tear Dylan and Alice apart forever . . .

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Alice Reed never dreamed she’d escape the stigma of her disturbing past. That’s why she was shocked when, out of the blue, she was recruited to join the elite Durand Enterprises by the enigmatic CEO himself, Dylan Fall. The erotic charge between them was fast and deliciously forbidden. But as Alice opened up to worlds she’d never known, everything changed once again with a stunning discovery: there’s much, much more concealed in the shadows of Alice’s troubling childhood, and her life is about to change forever.

Now, with another piece of the puzzle of Alice’s identity revealed, a mysterious adversary plots to destroy it all—and Dylan is determined to protect her. But as Alice’s sexual addiction to Dylan turns helplessly to love, she can’t help but wonder: how deeply can she really trust him? What were his true motives in drawing her close to him? And what other secrets does he know about her past that even she has yet to learn?

I've been hearing great things about Beth Kery romances so when the opportunity to read GLIMMER and GLOW came about, I had to jump at the chance and hoped to be swept away by it all.

GLIMMER and GLOW is about Alice Reed and Dylan Fall, and a past that they both share. There's danger, mystery, and lots of sexin' involved in this duology. A few things that worked for me, but overall, BKery's duology isn't for me. Let me start with the things that I liked:

I like success stories and strong women and Alice Reed seems like she's going to be one of those self-possessed heroines root for in this genre. Gotta love a girl who grabs life by the balls!

I like the air of mystery and danger in GLIMMER and GLOW. The thrill of the chase, a murder mystery, the fear and excitement of playing hide-and-go-seek with the bad guy? Yes please! And it sure made things extra spicy for Alice and Reed.

I like the implied "psychotic" breaks on Alice's part. Is she being haunted or is she seeing things? Maybe it's a memory of a past long forgotten? Curioser and curioser.

I like the idea behind Camp Durand, a camp for juvenile delinquents, which provided another interesting layer in GLIMMER and GLOW.

The romance, or should I say, lust-filled, sexed up, borderline psycho relationship that ruined the duology for me! Here's why:

GLIMMER and GLOW is one of those erotic novels where if Dylan Fall isn't a super rich corporate mogul, Alice would call the cops on him and the duology would be filed under the thriller genre instead. Don't get me wrong, Dylan is hot and every bit your typical Alpha male hero. I found him obsessed, manipulative, stalkerish, and overall creepy.

*might be spoilery* Alice and Dylan first met when Alice was 4 and he 14. Due to some tragedy they got separated for 11 years, and it's only recently that Dylan found Alice after extensive searching and lots of private detectives. After their first meeting? BOOM BOOM POW! And he says something to the effect of he won't let anything tear them apart. Seriously?! You met the girl when she was FOUR and you just found her again. So does that meen you've been having pervy thoughts about her when she was a CHILD? And NO! Their reunion is very recent, there's no slow burning anything, it's all instantaneous! Creepy right?!

Now I like the backstory of a shared history. That would strengthen any bond, but I feel it would've been better if the romance part was slow-burning versus "my cock likes you, let me pound that pussy hard". Also, what is up with these people and their "I'm clean, I just got tested, I haven't been in a sexual relationship with anybody for the longest time," spiel. Sorry to be nitpicky, erotic MC's are immune to STI and even UTI, but as the fantasy has already been shattered for me, I can't find it in me to buy this excuse. Sure stranger, you can fuck me without a condom, I'll even suck your dick for kicks! *wink wink*

I also feel like Camp Durand was a missed opportunity. It could've provided for a great emotional backdrop, a parallel side story to contrast with Alice and Dylan's past. This part of GLIMMER and GLOW felt very separate from the overarching arc because Alice got too distracted and focused on her pumping social life.

I also feel like Dylan used sex to manipulate Alice. See, Dylan holds the cards to Alice's secrets: who she is, what happened in the past, primed Alice to be in a vulnerable position, orchestrated the whole big reveal, etc. And he dealt with it in the most roundabout way. He basically created this atmosphere where Alice felt like someone is following her which landed her on Dylan's lap, a horny damsel in distress whose IQ points went double digit because he's too sexy for her panties.

*might be spoilery*If for example you found yourself walking in the words early morning and learned that you're being followed by what you assume is the bad guy, and your borderline stalker lover got to you first, adrenalin pumping and fear scented in the air, would having sex in that moment be in your best interest? I mean you're keeping quiet because you don't want to be caught, but putting yourself in a compromising of not vulnerable position makes sense? How about you turn it around and catch the bad guy instead since he's outnumbered? Doesn't that make more sense than being bent over in the woods muffling your cries of pleasure?

I can go on, but I think you get my drift. After the first eye rolling sex scene, I skipped the rest. I don't find Alice and Dylan's coupling romantic or even arousing. It felt cheap and contrived because Dylan, for all his good intentions, still made a victim out of Alice, and for all her genius, she wasn't able to see through it. I'm no prude, I love erotica, I just want the plot to MAKE SENSE. There's a lot of cheap sex to be found, I don't want it on the book that I'm reading.

Then again maybe GLIMMER and GLOW just isn't for me. A lot of people in Goodreads love the duology so don't take my word for it.

Thanks for your thoughtful review. I don't normally read erotica but an author I loved switched to it and I tried her books. I loved them and wonder if I've missed some great stories by skipping past others. I'll pass on these. You mentioned some things that wouldn't work for me either.

I can totally see why this wouldn't work for you and this is the problem with many e-roms for me because while I'm reading them I'm saying to myself "why aren't the cops being called for this pervert". Thanks Braine!

I dislike jerks as well. I've read lots of things about her books, mostly good. But, when majority of the readers are women, and they like a**holes, i just have to stop myself. What does it mean? Any book that displays the "Hero" as an abusive person (physically and emotionally), and the writer and reader love him, I can't deal. I'll pass.

Eeesh. No thanks. This does not sound like the read for me. Way too many things would bug me. And are you telling me that she's 15 when all of this is going done? Eck! Nope. No thanks. Thanks for being honest in your review.

Yikes, as you already know, any type of relationship that is about a man who is all about control in the relationship is a "no keeper". I also am not sure that I'm into yet another billionaire romance, that isn't even romance really. (lol) I do like the fact that there is some history from the past which developed the characters, however. Great, great review!

EEEEKKK Braine omg this sounds like everything I hated about 50 shades of grey but AMPLIFIED to a tonne! NOO that would definitely not be in your best interests to be having sex with your other stalker! NOOO. Hilarious review though!

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